213 Miles From Shea

The Mets go for their 10th win a row and a third consecutive series sweep this afternoon at Citi Field. On Saturday Jose Quintana pitched brilliantly earning his 100th career win while all of the teams the Mets are competing with lost. The Mets enter play today as the sole holders of the third wild card, 0.5 games back of the second wild card and 2.0 games back of the top spot.

Luis Severino has pitched 159 1/3 innings over 27 games this season with a 3.84 ERA, 4.25 FIP, 1.255 WHIP and a 102 ERA+. He’s coming off of a strong start against the Red Sox where he held them to one run over seven innings. In his last four starts has allowed six runs over 25 2/3 innings (2.10 ERA, 3.14 FIP) and four of those six runs came in one start. He’s also struck out 27 batters over that stretch. Severino faced the Reds at the start of the season, holding the Reds to two runs, one earned over five innings. The Reds have the following career numbers against Severino:

• Will Benson 1-5, 2 K
• Elly De La Cruz 0-2, K
• Santiago Espinal 1-6, 2B, 3 K
• Jake Fraley 0-4, K
• Jonathan India 0-4, 3 BB, K
• Luke Maile 3-10, BB, 2 K
• Amed Rosario 2-14, HR, 5 K
• Spencer Steer 2-4, 2B
• Tyler Stephenson 0-1, 2 BB, K

The Mets bats will close out the series against the Reds with the rookie Julian Aguiar. Aguiar has made four starts over his major league career totaling 16 2/3 innings with a 6.48 ERA, 7.26 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and a 68 ERA+. His stats right now are skewed by a start against the Athletics where they scored six times off 10 hits over four innings. He allowed exactly two runs each in his other three starts that ranged from 2 2/3 innings to six innings. No one on the Mets have faced Aguiar in a major league game.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mets bullpen is probably without Díaz today. Edwin Díaz has been on a roll for the Mets during their current win streak and has pitched in three of the last four Mets games, tossing 30 pitches in back-to-back games. Most likely he will not be available today for the Mets, but the rest of the bullpen is pretty rested. Garrett has thrown the most pitches in the last three calendar days at only 16 pitches. Hopefully the Mets bats give the Mets enough breathing room where they don’t even need to think about a high leverage situation.
2. José Iglesias becomes even more important. Before Saturday’s game the Mets announced that Jeff McNeil would be out for the rest of the season due to a fractured wrist. Iglesias has gone 3-for-6 in his last two games with a double, run scored and an RBI.
3. The Mets hit a lot of doubles. The Mets had two doubles on Saturday (Winker, Martinez). As a team they have 259 doubles in 2024, which ties them with the Dodgers for third in the majors, and first in the National League. When combined with the Mets homer numbers (182, fourth in the majors, second in the national league), the Mets offense features quite a bit of pop.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to stretch their winning streak to nine games this afternoon! Friday night the Mets and Reds had a back-and-forth affair that ended with Mark Vientos hitting a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the tenth inning. The Braves and Padres both won while the Diamondbacks lost. The Mets enter the weekend still tied for the third wild card spot int he National League but the Mets/Braves are now only 1.5 games out of the second spot. Every game is vital!

Jose Quintana has pitched 145 1/3 innings over 27 starts this season with a 4.27 ERA, 5.01 FIP, 1.321 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. Quintana had a rough go of it for his first four starts in August allowing 19 runs over 20 2/3 innings. In his last two starts he has allowed two runs, one earned, over 11 1/3 innings scattering 10 hits and five walks. Quintana had a good start against Reds at the start of the season, holding them to one run on a solo homer over 5 2/3 innings. The Reds have the following career numbers against him:

• Will Benson 0-2, BB
• Elly De La Cruz 1-6, HR, 2 K
• Santiago Espinal 2-4
• Ty France 2-3, HR
• Jonathan India 3-9, K
• Luke Maile 1-2
• Noelvi Marte 1-3
• Amed Rosario 5-9, 2B, K
• Spencer Steer 2-8, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• Tyler Stephenson 1-3

Jakob Junis gets the start for the Reds this afternoon. Junis has worked mostly out of the bullpen this season between the Brewers and the Reds. With the Reds he has pitched in 10 games totaling 20 innings with a 4.05 ERA, 3.43 FIP, 1.000 WHIP and a 79 ERA+. Overall this season he has a 3.13 ERA over 46 innings. The Reds have shifted his work load his last two outings, going from pitching 1-2+ innings to now 3-4 innings. In his last two outings he has pitched 7 2/3 innings allowing only one run. In his last game he hit a career high in pitches tossed at 62. The Mets have the following career numbers against Junis:

• Pete Alonso 1-6, 3 K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-1
• Harrison Bader 0-7, 3 K
• José Iglesias 3-15, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Francisco Lindor 20-40, 4 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 2 K
• Starling Marte 0-3
• J.D. Martinez 5-15, 2B, 2 BB, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 0-1
• Brandon Nimmo 0-4, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-4
• Luis Torrens 1-3
• Jesse Winker 0-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Jose Quintana’s 100th Career Win. Jose Quintana is 99-102 lifetime. Pitcher wins are definitely an imperfect stat, especially on the scale of a singular game. But over a career wins can define persistence and tenacity. Getting to this plateau is pretty big deal and hopefully Quintana can do it today. For context he was sitting at 98 career wins for the better part of a month.
2. Francisco Lindor’s 100th Run. Francisco Lindor is now sitting on 99 runs scored for the season. He is poised to cross the 100 run threshold for the second time as a Met and for the four time in his career. The most runs he has scored as a Met is 108 and in his career is 129. His career mark feels like a stretch at this point of the season, but it’s not impossible. He’s also only two doubles away from 40 on the season and four stolen bases from his second consecutive 30-30 seasons. A lot milestones possible for the Mets (and the National League’s) MVP.
3. Mark Vientos. The hero from Friday night’s game is in the midst of a breakout season. Over his last nine games he has gone 15-for-37 with four home runs. In the month of September he has gone 8-for-17 with three home runs and only four strikeouts. He’s been an x-factor for the Mets this season. This is of course burying that he hit two home runs in last night’s game, getting the Mets bats started in the first inning and closing the game in 10th.

Let’s Go Mets!

It’s a brand new September! The Mets extended their winnings streak to seven games on Wednesday night and every team the Mets are chasing lost on Thursday. The Mets are tied with the Braves for the last wild card spot and only three games out of the first wild card spot. The Mets now have multiple paths to the post season. It’s going to be a wild rest of the month!

Sean Manaea has pitched 150 2/3 innings over 27 games with a 3.35 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.115 WHIP and a 118 ERA+. Manaea is coming off of a great start against the White Sox, shutting them out over seven innings. In his last seven games he has allowed 2.42 ERA, 2.72 FIP over 44 2/3 innings while striking out 53 batters. He has pitched seven innings in five of his last seven starts. Manaea’s second start of the season was against the Reds where he allowed one run over five innings. The Reds have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• Will Benson 0-1
• Elly De La Cruz 1-2, K
• Santiago Espinal 0-1, K
• Jake Fraley 0-2, 3 BB
• Ty France 2-10, 2 K
• TJ Friedl 1-2, K
• Jonathan India 0-3
• Luke Maile 0-3, BB, K
• Amed Rosario 4-8, 2B
• Spencer Steer 0-4, 2 K
• Tyler Stephenson 1-2, BB

Fernando Cruz makes only his third start of the season tonight. Over 63 games he has pitched 57 2/3 innings with a 4.99 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 1.353 WHIP and an 86 ERA+. His last two outings have been starts where he has pitched five innings, allowing one run and three hits while striking out 11 batters. In both outings he tossed 42 pitches, both season highs. He had one outing against the Mets earlier this season where he allowed an unearned run in one inning from no hits and three walks. The Mets have the following career numbers against Cruz:

• Pete Alonso 0-2
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2, K
• Harrison Bader 0-0, BB
• Francisco Lindor 0-1, BB
• J.D. Martinez 0-2
• Jeff McNeil 0-2, K
• Mark Vientos 0-1
• Jesse Winker 0-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Reds Bullpen Usage. Four relievers in the Reds bullpen haven’t pitched since Monday (Justin Wilson, Sam Moll, Emilio Pagan, Carson Spiers). If Cruz throws around what he has done the last two outings, they can expect two to four innings from him. The Reds will then have to start burning their bullpen right away. One pitcher to watch is Carson Spiers, who threw 65 pitches on Monday over 2 1/3 innings.
2. Francisco Lindor. It’s a game in 2024, so of course we are watching Francisco Lindor. In his last three games he has gone 6-for-12 with two doubles and a homer, scoring four runs. Over his 15 game hitting streak he has hit 23-for-63 with eight doubles and six homers. He’s slashing .365/.403/.778 and has season total 7.3 fWAR.
3. Jesse Winker. On August 31st Winker went 3-for-3 at the plate with a homerun and two RBI’s in a game the Mets won 5-3. His next hit was on Wednesday where he lead off the game with a grand slam, which was the difference maker for the majority of the game (literally the only runs until the Red Sox melted down in the 8th inning). It’s stretch-run Winker season!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for their second consecutive sweep this evening! For most of Tuesday night, the difference between the Red Sox and the Mets was a Francisco Lindor two-run homer (it literally was the Mets only hit). Then the Mets broke the game open in the 8th inning as they rolled by the Red Sox. The Diamondbacks and Braves both won their games and the Padres didn’t play – so no significant change in the standings.

The Mets hope Tylor Megill can make it two successful starts in a row. Over 11 games he has pitched 52 1/3 innings with a 4.82 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 1.395 WHIP and an 83 ERA+. Last time out against the White Sox he allowed only one run over 5 1/3 innings, scattering five hits and a walk. The only member of the Red Sox who have seen Megill in a major league before is Tyler O’Neill (1-for-2, 2B, K).

Tanner Houck is on the mound to stop the Mets sweep. Over 27 games, 164 2/3 innings, Houck has a 3.12 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 1.166 WHIP and a 139 ERA+. He has thrown at least six innings in five consecutive starts and is coming off a solid start against the Tigers where he allowed no runs over six innings. He hasn’t been as effective since the All-Star break, posting a 4.53 ERA, 4.94 FIP over 47 2/3 innings spread over eight starts. Only a few Mets have seen Houck in a major league game:

• Starling Marte 0-2
• Luis Torrens 0-4, 3 K
• Jesse Winker 1-4

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Tylor Megill pitch selection. According to Baseball Savant, Megill has thrown eight (EIGHT!) different pitches this year including a fastball (49% of the time), cutter, slider, split-finger, curveball, sinker, sweeper and changeup. He threw all eight pitches at least once in his last start but he definitely had a different game plan. He tossed his sinker 20.6% of the time. Overall this season, (including data from his last start) he tossed it only 5% of the time.
2. Francisco Lindor. Lindor went 2-for-4 last night with a two-run homer early in the game and an RBI double to kick start the inning where the roof fell in on the Red Sox. As he was standing on second base the fans at Citi Field started a booming M-V-P chant. During his 14-game hitting streak he has gone 21-for-58 with seven doubles and six home runs, slashing .382/.403/.793. I’m writing this game chat before fWAR rolled up last night’s game, and Lindor has 7.2 fWAR. What a season for Lindor!
3. Spreading the power around. The strength of the New York Mets is how many players can muscle the ball out of the park. The Mets are sitting on 178 team home runs, 6th in the league and one behind the Athletics. Lindor hit his 30th homer of the season Tuesday night. Alonso his 31st. Mark Vientos continued his amazing season with his 22nd.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to extend their winning streak to six games tonight and take the series from the Red Sox at Citi Field. With their fifth straight win on Monday night, the Mets moved to 0.5 games out of the final wild card spot. It’s September baseball in Queens!

David Peterson looks to continue his personal hot streak tonight against the Red Sox. Over 16 starts this season he has tossed 92 1/3 innings with a 2.83 ERA, 4.25 FIP, 1.321 WHIP and a 141 ERA+. In his last five starts he has pitched 32 2/3 innings with a 1.65 ERA and a 3.67 FIP. In his last three starts he has walked only five batters. Walking too many batters was a thorn in his side for stretches this season. The Red Sox have the following career numbers against David Peterson:

• Triston Casas 1-1, 3B
• Rafael Devers 4-7, 2B
• Jarren Duran 1-1
• Danny Jansen 0-2
• Masataka Yoshida 0-1, BB, K

Kutter Crawford has pitched 155 innings over 28 starts this season with a 4.12 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 1.097 WHIP and a 105 ERA+. He has allowed a league leading 28 home runs (18 on the road) this season, or 1.6 HR/9. In his last two starts he has returned a bit to form allowing four runs over 11 2/3 innings. In the six starts before that he allowed 29 runs over 29 1/3 innings. Which Kutter will show up at Citi Field tonight? The Mets have the following career numbers against Crawford:

• Pete Alonso 0-2
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2
• Harrison Bader 1-4, 2B
• Francisco Lindor 0-2, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-2, 2B
• Brandon Nimmo 1-2, HR
• Luis Torrens 1-2
• Jesse Winker 0-3, BB, 2 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Red Sox Defense. The Red Sox lead the league in errors with 99 errors (honestly, it may be 101, I’m not sure if their two errors from Tuesday night’s game rolled into the stats yet). The Red Sox also made some crazy good defensive plays last night. Their defense both stole moments from the Mets and gifted them moments.
2. Hit Bombs. Kutter Crawford has allowed a league leading 28 home runs this year. While he has been better as of late, he had a stretch of six starts recently where he allowed 14 home runs. There’s an opportunity to get into Kutter’s head and take him deep. Alonso has hit three home runs over his last six games. Francisco Lindor is chasing his 30th of the season.
3. Brandon Nimmo. Brandon Nimmo went 1-for-4 Monday night with a double and an RBI. It was his first extra base hit since August 27th and his first RBI since August 20th. In the first half of the season Nimmo was a key source of power in the Mets lineup and led the team in RBI’s. They can sure use that Nimmo back in the stretch run.

Let’s Go Mets!

A few days ago the Mets fell apart in devastating fashion in Arizona, allowing a grand slam in the 8th inning. The Mets fell to four games out of the last wild card spot and things felt bleak. Since then the Mets have won four games in a row and have gained three games in the race. Entering play today they are only one game out of the last wild card spot. With 25 games left to the play this season, this month is going to be a wild ride.

Luis Severino looks to help the Mets make it five wins in a row tonight when he takes the mound. Over 152 1/3 innings he has a 3.96 ERA, 4.32 FIP, 1.260 WHIP and a 100 ERA+. He’s coming off of a tough start against the Diamondbacks where he allowed four runs over 4 2/3 innings. Before that he allowed only one run over 14 innings, including a nine inning shutout against the Marlins on August 17th. The Red Sox have the following career numbers against Severino:

• Triston Casas 1-2, 2B, BB, K
• Rafael Devers 3-19, 2B, 2 BB, 7 K
• Jarren Duran 1-2, BB
• Romy Gonzalez 0-2, K
• Danny Jansen 1-3, 2B, BB, K
• Rob Refsnyder 1-2, K

Brayan Bello has pitched 137 innings this season over 25 starts with a 4.66 ERA, 4.38 FIP, 1.372 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. He’s coming off of a tremendous start where he held the Blue Jays to no runs and two hits over eight eight innings. He has a 2.49 ERA, 3.37 FIP over his four starts, and that includes a start where he allowed five runs over 5 1/3. Only a few Mets have seen Bello in a major league game before:

• Harrison Bader 1-5, 2 K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-2, 3B
• Jesse Winker 1-5

Three Things To Watch For:

1. fWAR Leaders. This series will feature the #4 and #5 ranked players in the majors for fWAR. Jarren Duran is fourth in the league with a 6.9 fWAR hitting .295/.353/.529 this season with a 141 OPS+. He currently leads the American League in PA’s (624), AB’s (567), doubles (44) and triples (13). Francisco Lindor is right behind him at 6.8 fWAR, leading the National League in games played (137), PA’s (625) and AB’s (561). Both of these teams rely on their fWAR leaders for dependability and pushing the team forward.
2. The Red Sox need this series too. Entering play today the Red Sox are the bubble team in the American League, 4.5 games out of the last wild card spot. They just lost two games in a row to the Tigers, who are 0.5 games behind them. The Red Sox need a solid series to catch the Royals who are currently sinking in the American League wild card race, losing five games in a row. The last time the Mets faced a fringe wild card team in the American League, the Seattle Mariners, the Mariners swept the Mets.
3. The Mets struck out a lot on Sunday. Hopefully coming home overnight and ending another wild August road trip helped the Mets recover. They struck out an astounding 16 times on Sunday and still outhit the White Sox 7-2. Lindor and Alonso each struck out three times and Crochet started the game with seven straight strikeouts. In the end, the Mets proved it didn’t mattered and literally powered through thanks to Francisco Lindor.

Let’s Go Mets!

It’s September! The Mets are playing meaningful September games! What a luxury that we have pined for most seasons. This September 1st the Mets will go for the sweep in Chicago and their fourth win a row. Saturday was a great day for the Mets. They picked up the win and all three teams they are chasing lost. Entering play today the Mets are only two games out of the last wild card spot and four games out of the first spot. Let’s keep pushing!

Sean Manaea looks to drop the hammer for the sweep this afternoon. Over 143 2/3 innings, Manaea has a 3.51 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.142 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. Manaea has allowed exactly three runs in each of his last four starts. In his last three starts, he has paired that with pitching at least 6 2/3 innings. Since July 30th, Manaea has a 2.87 ERA, 2.64 FIP. The White Sox have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• Andrew Benintendi 4-12, 2 BB, K
• Nicky Lopez 2-7, K
• Luis Robert Jr. 2-4, HR
• Miguel Vargas 0-7, 3 K
• Andrew Vaughn 1-4, 2B, K

The Mets bats will face off today against one of the surprising players to not be moved at the deadline – Garrett Crochet. Crochet wanted guarantees about his workload in a trade. He didn’t want to get bumped to the bullpen, and he wanted an extension before pitching in the post-season. The White Sox have started to ramp down his work load recently so he can finish the entire season as a starter.

Over 27 games he has pitched 128 2/3 innings with a 3.64 ERA, 2.83 FIP, 1.073 WHIP and a 116 ERA+. Since July 23rd Crochet has pitched 21 1/3 innings spread over six starts (there’s a seventh start we’ll get to later) with a 6.75 ERA and a 5.14 FIP. The Mets have the following career numbers against Crochet:

• José Iglesias 1-2
• Francisco Lindor 0-1
• Starling Marte 0-2
• Luis Torrens 0-1, K
• Jesse Winker 1-1

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Crochet Today: Crochet is coming off of a bizarre start, in terms on how it looks on Websites like Baseball Reference. On August 27th he is credited for the start, with no outs recorded and no baters faced – and no pitches recorded. In reality he tossed four pitches before a rain delay knocked him out. So essentially he warmed up and then didn’t make the start. Does he go deeper today because of that? He had a month long decrease in pitches per start, getting down to the 50’s before his last start.
2. Jesse Winker: Winker has been on an absolute tear this weekend. Saturday he completed his second straight game of at least three hits. In his last three games he has gone 8-for-11 with a double and a homer. He has three RBI’s and three runs scored. The Mets have also faced right-handed pitching his last three games. So the Mets have a red-hot platoon hitter going against a left-handed starter today on some sort of pitch count. How does Mendoza play this?
3. Pete Alonso: Hidden behind the Mets successful week has been Pete Alonso. He has homered three times in his last three games, posting a small-sample size .619 SLG compared to a not so great .217 OBP. The Mets have won all three games that Alonso has homered in. Two of those games the Mets won by two runs or less.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to stretch their winning streak to three games tonight as they play game two against the White Sox in the Windy City. Friday night the Mets took the lead early and held on in a fairly uneventful game. Jesse Winker and J.D. Martinez stole the show, going a combined 5-for-8 next to each other in the lineup with three runs scored, a double and a homer.

The Diamondbacks lost again, so the entire wild card race collapsed a bit more, with only five games separating the Diamondbacks, Padres, Braves and Mets. The Mets are still three games out of the playoffs as we close out play at the end of August.

Jose Quintana has pitched 140 1/3 innings over 26 games with a 4.36 ERA, 5.09 FIP, 1.304 WHIP and a 91 ERA+. August was dreadful for Quintana, allowing 19 runs over 20 2/3 innings over the first four games of the month. The Mets went 0-4 in those four games. He bounced back in a big way his last time out, holding the Padres to no runs, scattering four hits over 6 1/3 innings. Quintana will now look to make it two solid starts in a row against the club he made his major league debut for and was an All-Star for back in 2016. The White Sox have the following career numbers against Quintana:

• Andrew Benintendi 0-3
• Luis Robert Jr. 1-3, K
• Chuckie Robinson 0-2
• Miguel Vargas 2-5, HR, K

Davis Martin has pitched 27 1/3 innings over six games this year with a 2.96 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.427 WHIP and a 144 ERA+. Martin returned to the majors this year after Tommy Jon surgery and has been using a faster (high-80’s) changeup with success. He’s still building up his pitch count and he hasn’t thrown more than 90 pitches this season. The goal for the Mets here is to get him work deep into counts, walk batters, and then kick him out of the game early. He is walking batters at a 4.3 BB/9 clip. No one on the Mets roster has faced him in a major league game before.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mets bullpen. The Mets had to use four relievers yesterday, including using Edwin Díaz for a third consecutive day. Brazobán and Danny Young are the most rested relievers for the Mets. Adam Ottavino tossed only three pitches Friday night and had two days off before that.
2. Jesse Winker. Winker has gone 5-for-8 over his last two games with two doubles. His bat is waking up for the Mets at the time when they need him most. From getting key hits to cheering on players in huge moments, it’s finally Winker’s Mets moment!
3. Power from the Mets big hitters. Homeruns from the big Mets hitters can give the Mets some breathing room tonight, especially when the bullpen has been used so much recently. Since August 19th J.D. Martinez has gone 10-for-39 with four homers (.590 SLG). Pete Alonso has hit two homers this week. (Not taking credit for it, but his last homer came on a day when we said, watch for an Alonso homer!).

Let’s Go Mets!

What a difference a day makes! Less than 24 hours after a crushing Mets defeat where the Mets allowed a go-ahead grand slam in the 8th inning, the Mets came roaring back with a ninth inning win on Wednesday afternoon. The Mets have finished their gauntlet of the Orioles, Padres and Diamondbacks 6-4. The Braves finally dropped a game so now the Mets go into the weekend only three games out of the last wild card spot. Onward!

Tylor Megill will make the start for Paul Blackburn tonight. Blackburn was hit by a comebacker in his pitching hand during his last start, and while he avoided serious injury, the Mets are bumping him for at least one start. Now Megill looks to get his season back on track against the White Sox. Megill has pitched in 10 games for the Mets this season, totaling 47 innings with a 5.17 ERA, 4.08 FIP, 1.426 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. He was sent back down to the minors at the end of July and has pitched in four games since then with a 4.22 ERA over 21 1/3 innings. The White Sox have the following career numbers against Megill:

• Corey Julks 1-2
• Nickey Lopez 2-2
• Miguel Vargas 0-2, BB, K

The Mets bats draw rookie Jonathan Cannon. Over 17 games (90 2/3 innings), Cannon has a 4.57 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 1.390 WHIP and a 92 ERA+. He’s in the midst of a tough stretch where he has allowed 13 runs over his last 14 2/3 innings where opponents have hit .339/.417/.565 against him. Before this stretch of bad starts he had a stretch of good starts with a 1.89 ERA (5.80 FIP) over three starts from the end of July to the start of August.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Trap game? Once it became clear that the White Sox may be historically bad, this became the fear about this series – will these all be trap games? The White Sox are facing a historical losing milestone set by the 1962 Mets. That has to be top of mind for the White Sox players in a slightly different way when they are playing the literal New York Mets.
2. Pete Alonso. Pete Alonso hit his 29th homer of the season on Wednesday. It was his 221st of his career moving him past Mike Piazza on the all time homerun list for the Mets. It was also his second home run in three games. Is this the start of a classic Pete Alonso power stretch?
3. Francisco Lindor. Lindor extended his hitting streak to nine games on Wednesday with a critical, game-tying home run. Over his nine game hitting streak he has gone 14-for-39 with five doubles and four homers slashing .359/.375/.795. We are running out of things to say about Lindor, he is quite literally powering the Mets in the chase for a wild card spot.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets will try to toss off Wednesday night’s disappointing loss quickly with the afternoon game today. The Mets bullpen fell apart late, with Edwin Díaz allowing a go-ahead grand slam in the 8th inning. The Braves also won on Wednesday pushing the Mets back to four games out of the third wild card spot.

We always knew that this week would be the most difficult week for the Mets, and they can still get a winning record between the Padres and the Diamondbacks with a win in the rubber game today.

The Mets turn to David Peterson to continue his incredible run. Over 15 starts, 85 1/3 innings, Peterson has a 2.85 ERA, 4.20 FIP, 1.324 WHIP and a 138 ERA+. In the month of August he has pitched 31 2/3 innings with a 1.71 ERA, 3.17 FIP. In his last two starts he has pitched at least seven innings. The Diamondbacks have the following career numbers against Peterson:

• Josh Bell 4-13, HR, 3 BB, 2 K
• Randal Grichuk 3-7, BB
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 1-2, HR
• Jose Herrera 1-2
• Jake McCarthy 0-2
• Kevin Newman 0-1, BB
• Geraldo Perdomo 0-1, BB
• Pavin Smith 3-4, 2B, 2 BB, K
• Eugenio Suarez 0-2, K

Ryne Nelson has a 4.29 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 1.277 WHIP and a 96 ERA+ over 130 innings. In his last three games he has really turned it on, allowing only five runs, scattering 13 hits over 19 2/3 innings while striking out 22 batters. He has also allowed one home run in three consecutive starts – a weakness the Mets could exploit. The Mets have the following career numbers against Nelson:

• Pete Alonso 3-5, 2 HR
• Francisco Alvarez 1-4, HR, K
• Francisco Lindor 3-4, 2 3B, K
• Starling Marte 1-2
• J.D. Martinez 1-3, 3B, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-5, 2B
• Brandon Nimmo 2-4, 2B, 3B
• Mark Vientos 1-2
• Jesse Winker 2-5, 2 HR, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. David Peterson. Over the last month or so David Peterson has moved from “oh look he’s getting good results” to “oh man, he might be the ace of this staff”. If there was ever a time the Mets needed an ace on their staff this season, it’s right now in this moment.
2. Pete Alonso. Pete Alonso hit his 220th career homer a couple of nights ago, which tied him with Mike Piazza on the Mets all-time list. He is 3-for-5 lifetime against Ryne Nelson with two homers. We have been on 221st watch for a game or so now, and Nelson has allowed a homer in three consecutive games.
3. Mets Bullpen. This has been a tough few games for the bullpen with the loss on Sunday and Wednesday. These types of losses, especially in the same week, can lead to spiraling. How does the bullpen come out in today’s game? How do they react if things start to go left (several balls in a row, bad calls, etc.).

Let’s Go Mets!